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Meeting of the Executive held on 02/10/2007
Revisions to Financial Regulations and Contract Procedure Rules


APPENDIX R
Waverley Borough Council

Executive – 2ND October 2007

Title:

REVISIONS TO FINANCIAL REGULATIONS AND CONTRACT PROCEDURE RULES

[Wards Affected: All]

Summary and purpose:

There have been regular, at least annual, amendments to both Financial Regulations and Contract Procedure Rules since they were last fully amended in April 2003. The most recent changes came into effect in April 2007. Since then there have been developments which require further amendment, and these are contained in the annexes to this report. The report recommends that the changes come into effect from 1st November 2007.

Environmental implications:

Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) have a direct impact upon the letting of contracts, which in turn have environmental implications.

Social / community implications:

Council contracts also have a direct impact upon the local community.

E-Government implications:

This particular set of revisions to CPRs and Financial Regulations have no direct e-government implications.

Resource and legal implications:

There are no direct resource implications arising from this report, but the amendment of Waverley’s governance arrangements is essential in order to ensure that the way Council business is conducted is both lawful and appropriate.

Introduction

1. Since the last set of amendments to Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) and Financial Regulations (FRs), there have been some further changes in circumstances and developments that warrant further changes. This includes the re-designation of the post of Chief Executive, the appointment of a Chief Executive and the issue of a new Code of Practice for Internal Auditors in Local Government by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

2. This report explains the proposed changes and seeks approval to them. It is suggested that they take effect from 1st November 2007.


Contract Procedure Rules

3. With the recent re-designation of the post of Managing Director to Chief Executive, any references to the former within CPRs now need to be amended.

4. Following the appointment of the Chief Executive, the temporary amendments to CPRs concerning the arrangements to obtain a waiver under the situation where the four directors were fulfilling the role of Managing Director on a rotational basis need to be removed. It is proposed that the provisions that existed previously be re-instated.

5. The amendments to CPRs are set out in the attached Annexe 1. Deleted text is shown scored-through, and inserted text is underlined. For the sake of clarity, any reference to “Managing Director” that is not shown in the Annexe will be also amended to “Chief Executive”.

Financial Regulations

6. The CIPFA Code of Practice for Internal Auditors 2006 (replacing the 2003 Code) has strengthened expectations regarding the reporting of suspected or proven cases of fraud, corruption or impropriety. It has also placed greater emphasis on partnerships, governance and risk management, specifying this as one of the considerations that the Head of Internal Audit (at Waverley, the Audit Manager) should take into account when preparing the Internal Audit Plan.

7. The proposed changes to Financial Regulations are set out at Annexe 2. Once again, deleted text is shown scored-through, and inserted text is underlined.

Recommendation

It is recommended that

Background Papers (DoF)

There are no background papers (as defined by Section 100D(5) of the Local Government Act 1972) relating to this report.

CONTACT OFFICER:

Name: Mr M Hill Telephone: 01483 523240

E-mail: mhill@waverley.gov.uk



Comms/exec/2007-08/080

ANNEXE 1

PROPOSED CHANGES TO CONTRACT PROCEDURE RULES

1. All references to “Managing Director” be replaced with “Chief Executive”. 2. The following addition is proposed to ensure Waverley has adequate access to contractors’ records in situations where the nature of the contract is such that Waverley will be developing the service in partnership with the contractor: 3. The following specific amendments to CPR W: a) the specific CPRs to be waived
b) the reasons why a waiver is sought
c) the proposed course of action
d) the signature of the requesting officer..

ANNEXE 2

PROPOSED CHANGES TO FINANCIAL REGULATIONS

To achieve clear compliance with the CIPFA Code of Practice for Internal Auditors in Local Government, the following changes to Financial Regulations are proposed:

C104 To notify the Director of Finance and Audit Manager immediately of any loss, liability or damage that may lead to a claim against Waverley, together with any information or explanation required by the Director of Finance or the authority’s insurers.

E104 To ensure that, before entering into agreements with external bodies, a risk management appraisal has been prepared and to report the outcome to the Director of Finance and the Audit Manager.

E108 To ensure that a lead authority is identified that will assume responsibility for leading and developing the partnership

E109 To nominate a lead officer to represent Waverley in the partnership, who will be responsible for reporting on partnership developments to Waverley’s chief officers and to Audit Manager regarding risk management and governance matters.


Comms/exec/2007-08/080